I read an advertisement lately in PC Gamer where that no-talent ass clown Greg Vederman (who used to work for PC Gamer as a clueless hardware advising moron), reviewed himself in a poor attempt to justify why we should pay premium prices to own one of those Blackbirds. After reading his constantly poor advice in his hardware column, it didn't take much to determine that I wouldn't be recommending those to anyone.

Did you try flashing the hp Blackbird bios with hp's blackbird bios version: 5.05 while in Windows? It appears to be the only way to do so. My hp blackbird 002 came with bios version 5.05 There isn't any new updated bios versions available only version: 5.05 The only way to update the bios is in Windows not any other way. I sure hope my system doesn't get toasted doing this once the newer bios version is available.

It shipped with 505, but after a bad crash I was forced to reset the CMOS and it wasn't saving all the settings, so I reflashed it with the BIOS they have on the support *cough* page.

It seemed to fix that issue.
The strange thing is that on the support CD they sent with the drivers and apps has a 501 version and the awdflash utility which is used at the dos prompt.
So I asked tech support why they gave me an older version with a dos flash utility.
He thought I was making this up because he had no clue.
We only use the flash program that you run from your OS he said.
I asked why they flash from the OS and was told it was policy and not going to change.
What's the advantage of this I asked?
He said, "I'm not really sure"

I asked if there was another tech I could speak with.
He said they were all busy.
So now I was like well, what if the user can't boot into windows due to a BIOS issue, how would he flash it?

His answer was, it would have to be shipped back for repair.
I was getting pissed now because I said well that's pretty damn stupid. And Asus is now making the chips non-removable.
You should be asking for mobos that have the chip in a socket in a rig like this. And using that type of flash procedure for reasons you don't know, HP should be not using these soldered on CMOS chips.

What would be a simple fix with no shipping involved is now a major issue.
He said I understand your point and will look into that.

This was the start of all the BS and lack of support and techs that should not be building a 6 grand rig.

So yeah, my BIOS finally would not save settings and lost the default feature that was once there.
There are so many more lies and BS that was said, but they can't be trusted and change what they say from one email or phone call to another.

I saved so many DFI and Asus mobos by hot flashing corrupted chips and now if you hose that BIOS you just lost what was a good SE, because it's a 50 50 chance of getting a good one.
And that flash procedure will eventually glitch during a flash update.

And Blackbirds are advertised as using off the shelf parts and have no proprietary issues.
That's a lie, the BIOS is proprietary and is the one thing that should not be!

I type to damn much and hate talking about what I went through, but people should know.

OK, I'm pretty much at the point now where I have to pull the cards and CPU water block that have to remain connected.
It was no problem pulling the cooling fans out from under the radiator which gives me room I need to make the mobo exchange easier.

Got all the PICS but it's time consuming to upload them and I rather use that time to get more done.
May post one or two if I can, but all will be up eventually.

If the NB and SB run too hot, and I always use a handheld temp monitor with a temp probe to get a true reading, the BIOS can be wrong and software can be off also.

I have a small water cooling unit that I used for my last rig that had a Core 2 Quad Q6700 clocked at 3.5 GHz and 1.45v, ran no higher than 43c running 3dmark06.

The radiator case mounting holes line up with the holes on the Birds other side panel.
It's not an easy mod, but I made some weird mods in the past.
Not a mod I want to do, I didn't ever want to build a rig again.

Another option is high flow sunon 40 mm fans that worked well for me, but lets see if this even boots up or if the mobo fits and all that stuff first.

Yes, that's just sad bro. It's like this... if you're going to be selling a $5,500 system then at least know the ****ing product from A to Z It's funny the sales reps pushing the blackbird don't have a good technical understanding of the internal hardware features. Yet, they try to sell.. Hell, give me a job there and I'll blow the socks off their sales force knowledge base and show them how it's done when they get a sales call for a new customer whom is wanting to order a blackbird. I'm sure they hate getting calls from guys like me and you when we know more then they do on the other end...LMAO! Often times they fill their positions with guys that are not into computers or they have some kind of communications degree that justifies they can handle a complex call. Yeah right.............LMAO! I do computer repair on the side and make good when the work is available. I provide service and sales which I've found my customers really like. You have to know what you're doing out there and if you can sell them on better quality then you've got it made for a good profit.

I'm about to pull the cards and CPU block, I hope there's enough slack in the tubes so I can try and put them over the side of the case.
I'll pull the radiator if needed, but the less I have to mess with the better.

Will post the pics of the good stuff you want to see when I take a break.

Just woke up, so I'm fresh and this new board is getting installed tonight.

Question for ya. What thermal paste would you go with on this setup for the CPU?
I usually use AS5, and a dab of it in the middle of the CPU the size of a BB as in BB gun.
They may have a pad type under there which I think suc.